The present invention relates to a detaching mechanism for a vehicle seat and more specifically to a detaching mechanism comprising at-least one lock mechanism, disposed at either or both of front and rear positions under a seat between a vehicle floor and a fixed rail of a back and forth slide mechanism, for detaching either or both of the front and rear ends of the vehicle seat together with the fixed rail and a movable rail of the back and forth slide mechanism, from the vehicle floor by releasing said lock mechanism.
A conventional one box car used for carrying both passengers and luggage has seats and a space for carrying luggage. Except for a driver's seat and a front passenger seat, seats may be detachable type or movable type.
To increase the space for luggage or cargo, the seats are removed from the floor in case of the detachable type, or moved forward in case of the movable type. Some conventional examples are shown in Japanese Utility Model Provisional (Kokai) Publication No. 4 (1992)-131533 and Japanese Post-Examination (Kokoku) Publication No. 6 (1994)-11226. Japanese Patent Provisional (Kokai) Publication No. 63 (1988)-137054 shows another example including a single lever for pulling down a seat forward and detaching the seat. In an example shown in Japanese Patent Provisional (Kokai) Publication No. 6 (1994)305346, a seat is detached from a slide mechanism.
In case of a conventional detachable seat, as shown in FIGS. 5A, 5B and 6, a lock mechanism 11 is disposed between a back and forth slide mechanism 1 and a striker 9. The back and forth slide mechanism 1 comprises a fixed rail 3 and a movable slide rail 5. The striker 9 is fixed to a vehicle floor 7. The seat can be detached together with the back and forth slide mechanism 1 from the striker 9 by releasing the lock mechanism 11.
The lock mechanism 11 comprises a lock main body 13, a lock release knob 15 and a lock release operation lever unit 17. The lock main body 13 is attached to the fixed rail 3. The lock release knob 15 is provided on the lock main body 13. A latch claw 14 of the lock main body 13 engages with the U-shaped striker 9 projecting upward from the vehicle floor 7.
In the conventional detachable seat mechanism, the lock release knob 15 of the lock mechanism 11 projects in the lateral direction from the side of the lock main body 13 disposed under the fixed rail 3 of the back and forth slide mechanism 1, so that the lock mechanism requires a wider space along the lateral direction. Furthermore, the conventional mechanism requires a protector 19 for covering the laterally projecting lock release knob 15. This deteriorates the appearance, increases the number of component parts and the number of manufacturing steps, complicates the assemblage, and increases the cost.